Great news! In June, the Ohio House of Representatives unanimously voted to designate 2018 as Ohio’s "Year of the Trails" (via Senate Concurrent Resolution 15) following a unanimous vote by the Ohio Senate in November 2017.

The resolution was introduced by Sens. Sean O’Brien and Steve Wilson, chairs of the Ohio Legislative Trails Caucus, a bipartisan group of state legislators committed to creating a statewide trails network to connect Ohioans. "The Year of the Trails" celebrates Ohio's trail networks, comprised of multiuse, water, hiking, equestrian and mountain bike trails, and recognizes them as important features in "helping to improve the quality of life in our society by promoting healthy lifestyles via recreation and active transportation” and “represent[ing] the bonds that create communities.”

This unique caucus has been doing much to solidify its commitment to trails, including bringing together more than 134 legislators and staffers in October 2017 for a major multiuse trail event along the Scioto Mile in Columbus in collaboration with the Ohio Trails Partnership and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC). And with a variety of projects in the works—from urban initiatives that will create equitable connections for underserved communities, to multistate projects that will serve as regional boons for tourism and recreation—Ohio certainly has much cause to celebrate.

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11/06/17

Here’s a brief overview of just six projects that are moving the dial in the Buckeye State.

1Mapping Ohio’s Trail Systems

Photo by Drew Dupuy, courtesy RTC

The Ohio Legislative Trails Caucus is partnering with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to develop a comprehensive online trail map that continually collects and consolidates Ohio’s trail data. This is a big deal, because it will support initiatives to update the state trail plan and conduct a statewide economic impact study that will direct strategies to promote healthy communities.

As Sen. O’Brien points out, “Whether hiking, cycling, running, horseback riding, rolling or paddling, almost every Ohioan has enjoyed our state’s wonderful trails system at some point in their life. Add that to the many economic benefits of Ohio’s trails. Making sure those trails are developed and preserved for years to come is an issue that people on both sides of the political aisle can agree upon.”

By the way, the ODNR is encouraging trail managers to send along GIS data for all trail types to further develop and enhance the map. Email Tom Arbour for more information.

2180-Mile Central Ohio Greenways Network

As the 180-mile Central Ohio Greenways network continues to build momentum, Columbus is setting itself up as a model for trail development. Led by a group of local agencies, including Columbus Recreation and Parks and Franklin County Metro Parks—both long-time trail development leaders in the region—Central Ohio Greenways is creating safe, equitable walking and biking routes throughout the city and beyond. Notably, the trail system is focusing on developing east-west connections that will ensure more neighborhoods—many of which are low-income or underserved—have access to trails. The Camp Chase Trail, for example, is helping to promote physical activity and active transportation among African Americans in Columbus through organizations such as the National African American Male Wellness Walk Initiative.

Multiple trails in the network also help make up the developing 326-mile Ohio to Erie Trail, which is creating an almost entirely off-road, cross-state trail connection.

3Cross-State Ohio to Erie Trail

Mentioned in the previous section, this developing 326-mile trail network—of which 280 miles are currently complete—will eventually connect the Ohio River in Cincinnati to Lake Erie in Cleveland (with some on-road connectors). Linking four of Ohio’s metropolitan cities, a dozen large towns and numerous small villages, the Ohio to Erie Trail has the potential to boost recreational tourism across the state and create endless new opportunities for physical activity.

Its route includes some of the country’s most loved trails, such as: the 81.1-mile Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail, which links to Cuyahoga Valley National Park; the Holmes County Trail crossing through one of the largest Amish communities in North America; and the Little Miami Scenic Trail, a crown jewel of Ohio’s rail-trails, which further connects to a 360-mile off-road system throughout the Miami Valley, a.k.a. “the nation’s largest paved trail network.”

Reconnecting Cleveland aims to create trails and safe walking and biking routes that will connect segments of Cleveland’s currently underserved populations to jobs, schools, public transit, business districts, parks and major civic spaces. According to Cleveland Metroparks, the trail network is intended to spur economic reinvestment in the region and will serve an estimated 66,000 area residents by the time of its completion in just five years.

When complete, CROWN will connect at least 242,000 people from 49 neighborhoods to employment centers, schools, parks, retail, recreation and entertainment. As Megan Folkerth of Interact for Health noted, "We really value that it will go through some of our most vulnerable population groups. In many cases, those groups don't have access to cars, and this network will help them get where they need to go every day."

6Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition

Last but not least is the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition, which is creating a 1,400-mile-plus trail network connecting 48 counties in four states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. When complete, this will be the largest destination trail network in the country, with endless implications for tourism and economic development in some former industrial corridors.

Brian K. Housh is an avid cyclist and a council member in the Village of Yellow Springs, where his active transportation lifestyle is supported by living along the Little Miami Scenic Trail—part of the nation’s largest paved trail network.